Another try
by blazer-6
Summary: My first fic ever! Please read and review. Seemingly common plot but I plan on spinning it in my own unique way. Read and review please!
1. It Begins

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, nor do I profit from this in any monetary way. The only satisfaction I get is emotionally.

Another Chance Chapter 1

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"So this is it"_ thought Naruto, as he hung there, tied to the oversize log that was painstakingly erected for this single purpose. It was reinforced with every binding seal known to man, but it wasn't necessary. The blonde had no fight left in him, he hadn't had any in him for a long while_."This is the end"_

All around him, in the vast training field hordes of villagers and shinobi alike roared their requests for the act to continue. An act that many of them had been praying for every day of Naruto's life.

His execution.

He sighed from his spot "It was only a matter of time" he mused "They have been after me openly ever since I became Jounin. Not that I didn't have to make them work for it" He smirked at that thought. At over fifty years old, the blonde kitsune has been dodging death for longer then he could remember, from both enemy nin and vengeful villagers and council members who decided that since he was trained under a sannin it was okay to send him alone on S-rank missions _"Not that that train of thought carried over to the prick and the bitch" _he thought bitterly. The funny part was that the enemy always seemed to know that he was coming, funny that. The biggest miracle Konoha has probably seen since it's founding was that Naruto survived this long.

But nothing lasted forever, especially now. With the latest batch of wars between the hidden villages over Konoha's people finally had the time to rebuild their lives. But the gears of peace did not turn from written treaties alone, oh no. Other villages required a more...graphic example of Konoha's commitment to peace. In an ultimate irony, all thosesolo high class missions had given Naruto such a feared reputation not seen since the fourthhokage.The other villages did not feel safe with such a powerhouse roaming across the countryside with all their villages at such low strength, they said. If Konaha wanted peace so bad they could get it with the blood of their greatest warrior.

The council was probubly still laughing their wrinkled asses off.

Which brought him to now, and the stump. It wouldn't be long till they got this fire started, literally.

"Naruto." A hoarse voice cracked from in front of him. Naruto looked up from where he was hanging to see a hunched over figure approaching him. The figure was covered in a cloak with a cowl covering her head and face.

Naruto smiled slightly. "Hey there hag. What's hanging, besides me?"

Tsunade, for that was who was concealed beneath the cloth (she found putting up the genjutsu was to much effort for quite some time, injuries and damage from to many self damaging healings finally catching up to her, and she didn't have a hokage robe because she was replaced)looked upat the boy she saw as a son andshuddered as her body was wracked with sobs "I'm so sorry, Naruto. I tried to stop them but..."

"But they've been looking for this for quite some time now, I know. This treaty must have been seen as a gift from heaven." He kept his smile up but his eyes were empty. After all, he was a dead man hanging. Not even the blonde could brush this off.

"You deserved so much better Naruto." Tsunade continued "You gave everything for people who hated you so much, and as I watched you grow up I saw you selflessly give more and more and this villagejust took more and more from you. I'm sorry"

"Stop apologizing hag. You did what you could but some things just weren't meant to be." Naruto's mind drifted towards a dream he had for so long. A dream that would never come true because bigotry and hatred proved stronger then compassion and rightousness. Yet he wasn't crushed by that thought, as he should have beem. Over fifty years of seeing nothing but the ugly side of his village, especially these later years when they were actively attempting to get rid of him completely destroyed any faith he had in his so called home. No great loss to his mind there he thought.His heart clenched as the thought of loss brought up more painful memories, ones that actually _did _hurt.

A feminine face, brown hair tied in two buns topping a nicely curved face, big brown eyes gazing on him with warmth and the slightest bit of mischief. Her body laying on her side, the chinese dress style she treasured so much fitting her like a glove and making her common physique glow that much brighter in his eyes. _"Tenten..."_ he thought to himself, the memory of what she was to him and what they might have been today never failing to shake him to the core. Other faces flashed by his mind, classmates from when he was really young who became comrades through so much, as well as precious people he had accumulated over the years. All gone now. It was no accident that none except Tsunade (and she only made it because she was hokage) lived to see this day. One couldn't say that the council wasn't thorough in their little vendetta.

"At least ero-sennin isn't here to see this" He said. His old sensei having died years ago taking down his mad former teammate in the final days of sound. Not that that stopped the war in the end. Orochimaru lit up a powder keg that drenched virtually the whole continent in blood. "He would have yelled them to premature deafness, and when they didn't listen he would have had the council's heads or at least summoned a frog on them. He always knew how to make a scene, the big baby."

Tsunade chuckled "That he did.". They stared at each other fondly for a moment before a particularly loud roar from the crowds brutally brought them back to reality and reminded them that they were at an execution and this was the last time they would see each other ever again. Tsunade straightened up and looked into his eyes " I have something to give back to you". With that she dived into her cloak and pulled out a familier necklace.

Naruto's eyebrow raised ever so slightly "My necklace." he droned in a voice like he was talking about the weather. "Where did you find that?"

What little he could see of Tsunade's mouth curved up in a smirk. " I'm a sannin remember? Now lean down and let me put it on you. I want you to look your best if this is how your going out."

Naruto stared a bit with his empty eyes and leaned forward ever so slightly, all the motion he was allowed given the binding seals placed all over him. Tsunade straighened and reached behind his neck and fastened the green stone once more over him.

"It looks good on you."

"It always did."

A cold voice interrupted their banter. "As touching as this is you have had enough time with him Tsunade. Get back with the crowd". Naruto raised his head and Tsunade turned hers to glimpse the perpetrator of that comment. Flanked by several foreign dignitaries here to make sure the execution was valid as well as several key members of the Konoha council was a man in a hokage robe. He pushed past Tsunade and raised his head to look into Naruto's eyes. Naruto's eyes flashed with suppressed wrath when he saw the eyes that stared up slightly at his.

Sharingan eyes.

"Sasuke." Naruto spat out.

Sasuke smirked at him in his arrogantly superior way. "Hello Dobe. Are you ready to take part in today's festivities? Everyone has been waiting such a long time for this moment." Glares at Naruto and nods from the delegates and politicians behind the Uchiha confirmed this.

Naruto gave his first real show of emotion of the day by laughing in Sasuke's face. "Including you, _friend_?"

"None more then me."

Naruto cocked his head to the side a bit "Still can't forgive me for finishing of Itachi while you were busy whoring yourself to the snake freak? You should just admit you were to spineless to ever do it and just ran to Orochimaru knowing you would die. It was all just a petty show like everything else you do...loser." He laughed at the new hokage. It was short lived though as Sasuke's fist met his gut. Hard.

"How _dare _you talk to me that way?" Sasuke hissed."Loser? Look around you dobe I have everything! The Hokage title? _Mine. _Sakura? _Mine._ The hero worship of every person in this village? _Mine mine mine!"_ He accenuated every other syllable with a hard punch to Naruto's gut as those behind Sasuke watched with glee. Except for Tsunade who clenched her fists. Old she may be but she is still wields the violent persona she always has.

The blonde, to his credit, merely smirked as each blow landed on him. "Is that all you have? After all those years being tossed around by Lee and Gai this is nothing. But to what you said before...Hokage? If thepeople are so eager to put you up it just shows how stupid they really are. Sakura?"Naruto openly reared his head back and laughed. "You can have the bitch. After the way she betrayed everyone of us just to get a second glance from a shit like you? She has no concept of friendship. Acknowledgement? That hasn't meant a damn thing to me for so long. I have nothing left because of your little hissy fit. A fit that killed to many. Grow the hell up you pitiful wretch. You can't hurt me."

Everyone within earshot expected Sasuke to explode. To reach over and carry out the execution right then and there. Toeveryones surprise, Sasuke merely smirked and leaned up next to Naruto's ear. He whispered a single thing.

"I killed her. But not before I had my fun with her and made her scream over and over. She was a good lay, even though shehad to be held down.I can see why you chose her."

Naruto froze completely still as that sunk in. Then, his head rose slowly and everyone except Tsunade and to a lesser exent Sasuke couldn't help but shrink back at what they saw. The empty, tired sky blue eyes were gone. In their place were blood red eyes. Eyes a person should only see in their nightmare, for a human being who had them in thereal world could not truly be called human. The killing intent that filled the air caused more then one council elder to lose his bowel control.They bored right into Sasuke's eyes. "**You waste of life. I swear to you I will make you pay for what you did. You may think though up until now you got away with so much crap because of your damn blood but this time you won't.**" Sasuke took a half step back as Naruto lunged against his bindings. He got much farther then anyone thought he would, considering Naruto didn't fight against the bindings all day, to say nothing of the sheer number of them. However, it wasn't nearly enough power for Naruto to get to his desired target and soon enough he was stuck against stump yet again.

One of the council elders stepped forward. "Hokage-sama? It is time. It wouldn't do to consort with this sort of trash for to long and it isn't safe for anyone to let that monster exist any longer. You should proceed."

That seemed to shake the Uchiha out of his stupor. "Yes...that's right. Go to the podium and announce that we will begin now. I will pepare myself."

_"he makes everything he does seem so high and mighty. How much preparing himself does stuffing a chidori or frying me my a fireball should it take for a 'Uchiha Savior _(one of the titles the masses gave the prick) _take?'_ Naruto thought. It was bit disconcerting how casually he thought of his old demise. It was probably all those solo high class missions desensitizing him to the whole death thing.

As everyone turned to leave Sasuke's eyes rested upon Naruto's chest. "Where did he get that necklace from?" He demanded.

There was a slight pause before one of the council stepped forward. "I believe that it is Tsunade-sama's necklace. It was passed down to her by the first hokage and is a symbol of wealth and power."

"I see..." Murmered the Hokage. After a moments deliberation he reached up and snatched the necklace of Naruto's chest. He clapsed it around his own neck as he continued on his way. "If it means power then I deserve it. I am the Hokage after all." He threw one last snide smile back at the person he despised as much as his brother.

If he wasn't so busy patting himself on the back for his incredible necklace taking skills he would have noticed that the former holder of his title was looking at him with air suspiciously like triumpth. She quickly smothered this air and turned back to the person she saw as her little one last time.

"Goodbye Naruto." She said "May you find a happy ending in your second chance." Not giving the confused look Naruto threw her way a second thought as she bowed and left to take her place in the crowd.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was ten minutes after that confrontation and the spokesman from the council was still going on about how this day would live on forever as one that would bind the hidden villagestogether in peace.Of their hokage their was no sign yet, not that it mattered.Everyone in the crowd was eating it up like good little worker drones. Everyone except Tsunade, who was making herself comfortable for what would be the biggest, and last, show she would ever seen.

"Tsunade-sensei!" a voice rang fromaround her.

Tsunade made no move to awknowledge the figure approaching her from the left. As it closed it showed itself to be a pink haired woman dressed in standerd jounin attire. She came to a stop next to the aging woman.

"Tsunade-sensei" Sakura breathed, eyes shining."Aren't you excited? This is Sasuke-kun's big day. not only is he getting rid of that menace to our village but after the execution he will be formally initiated as your successor! Aren't you happy?"

"That 'menace' is your teammate. Also do not refer to me as your sensei. I dropped you as my pupil the day you showed just what your true colors really were." Tsunade growled. She really didn't want to deal with this one in her final moments.

Sakura merely frowned a little as she responded in a tone that was much like agranddaughter chastising her grandmother. "Don't be like that sensei. You don't have to pretend to like Naruto anymore. He's not a threat anymore Sasuke is saving us from that demon. Sasuke is always selflessly helping everyone. Besides, he was never really a _teammate_ he was just some burden thrown on poor Sasuke-kun's shoulders when he had so much to deal with. The only reason Sasuke-kun left at all was because that demon was corrupting him. Everyone was so inspired when he came back to us saying he wanted to be a leaf nin again." There was no response from the cowled woman next to her so Sakura merely shrugged and turned her focus back to the speech that was still going on.

Several minutes passed in relative silence between themuntil Sakura shifted her eyes a little back to Tsunade. "You know sensei, when I was helping Sasuke-kun get ready for his appearance I couldn't help but notice a necklace he had on that I never saw before. When I asked him about it he told me that it was a village treasure and that you gave it to Naruto first." Sakura turned her head fully to Tsunade now eyes blazing. "Why would you give such a hallowed treasure to that-that _thing _instead of Sasuke-kun! Do you have no loyalty to our home? If you make such horrible mistakes it's no wonder that poor Sasuke-kun had to take over as hokage despite going through so much.

"I have made many 'horrible mistakes' throughout my life, girl. Your one of them. Giving my necklace to Naruto was not in any way a mistake."

"hmph." Sakura looked like she was going to make a bigger deal about it but the appearance of a figure on a podium (the speech at long last seemed to be over) halted all thoughts of that.

lo and behold Sasuke finally looked like he was ready to get this thing over with as he stalked over to the front of the podium, spoke for about two minutes (a record for the brooding shinobi), shok the hands of some of the foreign delegatesand began to make his way over to Naruto. Sakura joined the rest of the crowd in cheering him on as Tsunade watched in silent apprehension, hoping what she concocted will work.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Finally gathered your courage,eh Sasuke?" naruto drawled.

Sasuke ignored the comment. "You know Naruto the usual way these executions work is that the person is burned to death. However, this means so much to me that I managed to convince them to let me take a more...hands on roll in ths particular one." Sasuke said as he executed a set of seals they both knew by heart.

_"Chidori!" _Sasuke cried as his hand exploded in a collection of sparks and volts of electricity. He gave Naruto no time to appreciate his technique (not that he would anyway he has seen it so many times) before plunging his chakra enhanced hand through his middle.

Sasuke crowed.

The crowd roared with approval. Really, what happened to the supposedly most peaceful village of them all?

Tsunades head fell, though her eyes never left Sasuke...or more accurately, the object dangling openly on his neck.

Naruto...felt nothing.

Really, what was he to feel? Everyone he ever called friend was gone, killed by a combination of blind hatred of those he once swore to protectand a hissy fit of the one Naruto once called his closest friend who in the end couldn't grow up and acccept life as it was. Did he really expect Naruto to just lay over and die when Itachi came for him?Is he that deluded? Well, yeah he clearly is if he was willing to do what he did to Naruto. But, he had dreams to and its against his nindo to just give up.

**'_But you are giving up, aren't you Naruto?'_** a tiny voice in the back of his head whispered to him as he stared at Sasuke's hand, which has yet again found his way into Naruto's anatomy.

_'I'm not giving up!' _Naruto responded to the voice. _'I just...I just don't have anything left.'_

**_'That sounds like an excuse.'_**

_'Be quiet! Isn't it enough that I have to die wallowing in the knowledge that I spent my whole life bleeding for people who just couldn't care less?' _His body shuddered a bit as his body spasmed from the attack. _'If I could do things differently I would but I can't so let me have my last moments in some sembelance of peace...stupid fox' _Naruto finally recognizing the voice not of a concience butas the one from the demon that inhabited his gut.

**_'Then you might get your chance.' _**

_'Huh, and how am I going to do...HUH!' _

Forming behind Sasuke was a purple cloud. The cloud was forming rapidly until it took a shape. It's body was huge and covered in a robe and it had lots of hair splayed wildly in all directions. But what lockeda person'sfocus was the face. it looked like a mask with the mouth fixed in a permanent leer. The eyes were dark and depthless. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he realized what...no,_who_ he was staring at.

The god of death.

_'This is crazy! The only known jutsus that can summon him require either a large group of elite jounin or kill the user upon end of casting!' _Naruto looked around with what little of his fading strength he had left. There were no other shinobi in the area he could see who were performing any jutsu at all except for Sasuke, and he certainly wouldn't use it.'_What's going on now_He thought. Nothings ever easy when he's involved it seems. Not even his execution.

Sasuke was confused. He expected Naruto to writh in pain when he attacked, and for a moment he did. His pain tolerance is nothing short of legendary. He even dared to break eye contact with him, like this was some joke! Well his healing factor won't save him this time! He made to remove his hand and started when he found he couldn't. Believing that maybe he just caught it on Naruto's insides (It happened every once in a while- the price you pay for using an attack that imbedded your hand in your opponents anatomy) and moved to remove it again except with more force. It didn't budge. He was about to try something else when his chest suddenly exploded with pain. Looking down he saw, to his shock that the necklace he took from Naruto was glowing with chakra and was slowly burning it's way into his chest! He moved his free arm to somehow remove it but after a few seconds he lost control of it to. He looked down at the necklace again to see that it stopped halfway into his body. Now the glow was bleeding out of the necklace into his body. The chakra snaked its way all over Sasuke and if person looked closely they could see that is was layer after layer of seals ingraining themselves all over him.

Sasuke was barely able to move his eyes back in line with Naruto's before he finally succumbed to total paralysis. "What did you do to me!" He hissed through clenched teeth.

Naruto coughed up some blood and gave a smile. "I didn't plan a damn thing asshole. Although it seems i'm going to get my wish for you to suffer horribly. Feel lucky you can't turn around." With that final comment to his obviously doomed former friend Naruto turned his gaze back to the movements of the god of death behind Sasuke.

"Hokage-sama, are you all right?" a council member who was watching from behind the two asked. He moved closer when he recieved no awnser, then reared back when he noticed the seal working all over the Uchiha. "Somethings wrong with the hokage! (A trait of jutsu involving the god of death was that no one could see it except the caster and recepient of the jutsu) Someone do something!" He didn't even finish the sentence before the ANBU and many leaf shinobi broke out of the crowd heading for the podium, a pink haired kunoichi at the lead. A moment later whenSasukes body spasmed and his head jerked up it was to late.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto watched with a kind of morbid fascination as the god of death finally set itself into motion. It leaned forward until it's head was over Sasuke's and opened it's mouth. Not a sound was heard but he could see that after a few moments a see through version of Sasuke was rising above solid Sasuke's body. Naruto didn't need to think twice to figure out it was his soul. "Good-bye Sasuke. I hope you burn in your own private hell for what you have done.". When the god of death finished it's 'meal' it turned it's gaze towards Naruto.

"My turn now huh? That's fine I have nothing here to live for. Tenten i'm coming...'

**_"Don't be so sure whelp. The aged female would not have gone to the trouble of manipulated the arrogant one just to kill you, when your demise was already assured. Look closer." _**Came the voice of the Kyuubi in his head.

The arms of the god of death moved closer until they were on either side of Naruto's chest. After a moment, a bright blue stream of...something, it didn't feel at all like chakra, began to come out and pool itself between it's hands.

_'Is that my soul' _Naruto thought. It must be something important bacause the moment it started coming out his vision started to grow darker.

**_"Indeed. It appears that fate has other things in store for you boy. When you get to the place between life and death tell them that there's a big load on the way."_**

Naruto had barely a moment to process the meaning of that statement before everything went completely black.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From the front of the crowd Tsunade watched as the glowing of the seals finally dimmed and both bodies slumped, well Naruto's sagged while Sasuke's was caught by a hysterical Sakura. Whether that jutsu failed or worked she didn't know but it was over with now.People quickly moved closer to see what the hell was going on.

"Is the hokage alright? What happened?" cried one voice.

"He's dead! There are burns all over him!" another went.

"It's because he touched the demon, he must have found some way to take Sasuke-sama with him!"

"Is the demon dead? someone check?"

A few of the people surronding Sasuke broke off and exaimed the blonde. "I don't feel a pulse. He's finally gone!" A ragged cheer went up from everyone except one lone woman.

The cheer wa short lived when a pulse of chakra the likes of which only a handful of people there have ever known rocked the area. Those who knew it could immediatly identify it. One of which cried out "It's the Kyuubi! The Kyuubi is still alive!"

"Impossible!" countered one of the people who checked Naruto. "His heartbeat stopped and there was a gapping hole in his chest! See look..." The man's voice faded as he looked at Naruto again. There was a seal he never saw before that had appeared on his navel. Before his eyes it began to break apart and fade away. For a moment after there was silence as seemingly the whole world held it's breath. Suddenly such a massive amount of red chakra exploded out of Naruto that his body, Sasuke's body, Sakura and everyone within a ten foot radius was instantly obliterated by it's sheer force. It then shot into the air and began to form into a force that no one had ever wated to see again.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was pandemonium as everyone was screaming and running in every direction. Some poor fools of shinobi were even trying to organize a counter attack. Fools. Unlike the last time those many years ago there were no great hero's to lead them to victory or save them. Many of the exceptional shinobi were friends of Naruto and killed years ago by a insane Sasuke for just that reason. The rest died in the wars.All that was left were hero worshippers and cowards. Konoha was doomed.

Tsunade watched the display with detached interest. "So I was right. No human chakra could ever hope to contain one of the tailed demons, so the fourth attached the kyuubi's life force with Naruto's, which was why he could 'talk' to it. Theoretically that could mean anyone could hold one at any age, but since the demon's chakra would also find it's way into the host's body and someone who's pathway's were to developed couldn't handle the strain and would die almost immediatly. No wonder the fourth chose a newborn." For all the personality she was showing as she talked to herself she might as well have been discussing the newest anti-toxin with some colleagues at the hospital. She didn't even try to run, she knew it was over. Tears streamed down her cheek's althoughwhether they were in happiness because if this was happening then the jutsu must have worked and Naruto was on his way to get his second chance oranguish for bringing about the end of her home no one would ever know.

She watched as the Kyuubi grew more solid by the second until it finally bagan to move. It had over fifty years of pent up rage to vent and it couldn't wait to get started!Ignoring the weak jutsu that was being thrown in it's wake it shook it's tails and let out a roar that terrified every living thing that heard it. It then swung it's it's mighty tails at the fleeing and screaming inhabitants of the formerly mighty village hidden in the leaf's.

Tsunade had only one last thought before she was crushed to death. _'Naruto. I don't know if you will hate me for doing this or not, but I pray with all my heart that you find true happiness, where ever you end up.' _Then there was nothing but explosions and screams a Konoha and everyone in it burned.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto was floating in darkness.

When he regained 'conciousness' that was the first thing he noticed. The second thing was that his see through body, his soul he guessed, was being carried through this darkness by the god of death. Except unlike at his execution it was bigger then any mountain he had ever seen and he spent time in earth country. It wasn't really surprising when he thought about it. Even though the man-made ninjutsu could summon it there was no way any mortal could ever hope to bring it at full power. Either that or all the hokage souls it ate over the years were _really _good for it's diet.

_'What now?' _he thought. Naruto turned to the massive diety. "Hey! Stupid god! What now?" While over the years Naruto did in fact learn patience situations he was forced in where he knew nothing tended to set him of fast. Situations like now.

There was no response from the massive figure. Naruto entertained the thought of finding something to throw at him when a light from under him caught his attention. He 'turned' his body from facing towards the god of death to facing away from the god of death and squinted down towards the light. Or lights as it turned out to be. It looked like there was a sea of them, little balls that seemed to have no end.

Naruto turned back to the god of death. "Oi! What are those things?"

The god of death dropped him. Apparently manners aren't it's strong point.

The blonde screamed as he fell rapidly towards the lights. _'Aren't you supposed to stay _away _from the light's?' _He wondered to himself. As he neared, though, he noticed that they weren't lights at all but in fact tiny window's. On the other side of them was Konoha...but not Konoha. In one window he saw that it was Jiraiya that went insane and tried to conquer Konoha. In another window Haku was born a leaf nin. In yet another Ino was a redhead (Naruto actually thought that particularcolor suited her better). It went on and on for what seemed like hours. He began to despair that this was going to take a while when he looked below him and saw he has bearing down directly on one window. It showed nothing but the hokage monument with four face's on it before it hit and Naruto yet again lost conciousness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Naruto cried as he shot out of bed. He flailed around a bit beforepainfully falling over the side of the bed onto the floor with crash. After fighting the blanket for a few minutes he eventually managed to achieve the feat of standing up. "Dammit, that was one crazy dream. Although the part where Sasuke died was good." Ugh, just the thought of that disgusting Uchiha brat took what little cheer he could draw from his life lately. But there was no point in dwelling on some disturbingly realistic dream when he had work to do. If it wasn't another borderline-suicidal mission it was doing the most demeaning task whoever was giving out the assignments could think of at the time. Best to just get it over with. As his body made it's way to his bathroom some part of it subconciously noted that his head didn't even reach higher then the mattress, but such trivial facts could wait for later.

As he hobbled down the hallway, walking over objects that that same subconcious part of his brain couldn't recall ever buying and for good cause they were objects like stuffed animals and toys that looked like they would belong to a two year old girl. As he finally reached the bathroom he found another obstacle in the form of a door nobmuch higher the it should have been. Naruto mumbled something about 'troublesome huge doors' andafter several attemptsgained entry into his room of washing. He was starting to get suspicious by now, because he couldn't even see over his counter to the bathroom mirror, and was just about to wake up when he felt nature calling. Thank goodness he was in the right room! Like everyother peice of furniture in his apartment today, his toilet was several times to big and he had to balance himself on its edges. He put his pants down and was about to direct Mr. firehose to do it's business when he felt something that knocked his sleep away with the force of one of Tsunade's chakra enhanced punch's. He stared down at his under waist line he saw that he didn't just miss it...it..._**wasn't there it was the 'other one'!**_

Naruto let out a scream and fell backwards. Everything falling into place. "That wasn't a dream it really happened! Whatever that jutsu she sealed in the necklace, it put my soul in this body.She...she...**_SHE STOLE MY WEE-WEE!_**"

Then Naruto fainted dead away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

FINALLY! I fifnished my first chapter ever. I apoligize if the ending seemed a little rushed but a blackout hit when I did it the first time and I really wanted to get the introduction out of the way.

I hope you all find the time to review. I would really appreciate it if you told me what you liked, what you disliked and what you want to see. I'm going on a vacation on the 10th and won't be back for two weeks but if you review fast enough I can set up the next few chapters in my head while i'm there.

Until next time!


	2. New Day

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto. I am only using itto vent my creativity.

Another Try- Chapter 2

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

After regaining consciousness Naruto huddled in the corner of the bathroom unable to do anything but shake for almost ten minutes. Finally, her years of training kicked in and she began to get her bearings. _'Okay, I guess this is what Tsunade did when she messed with my necklace. What was she thinking doing this? Did she think this was a favor, making me go through this all over again?' _Naruto thought. She decided to save those thoughts for after she got a firmer grip on the situation. First things first-her appearance. She got up and made a move towards the bathroom mirror. She didn't make it two steps before she fell over and banged her head on the toilet bowl (Naruto hadn't pulled her pajama pants up). She rolled around a bit on the floor cursing for a bit before pulling her pants up and completeing the trek over to the sink. After pulling herself on top of the counter, which took the better part of two minutes (Naruto cursed her obvious shortness and weak limbs. Just how old _was _she?) Naruto finally got to see what she looked like.

She was obviously in a child's body Naruto saw when shelooked ather face.It wasn't that different from when she was young the first time, except for a few things. Her nose was a little smaller and she still had her bright blonde hair, though it wasn't as spicky and was much longerthen how Naruto remembered it to be when she was little. Her one of a kind bright blue eyes were there as well. On a closer look Naruto saw that there were tiny crimson specks held within the pupils, though they were so small that she had to lean close to really see it. Another person would be hard pressed to notice unless she was looking her directly in the eye from a very close distance. Her skin was very pale. This Naruto obviously didn't go out much. If it wasn't for that and the way her skin on her face seemed to sag a bit in seeming exhaustion she would probably be classified as 'cute'.Naruto removed herpajama's and threw them into a pile in the corner of the bathroom in order to give herself a complete lookover. She was definitely a girl she thought as she posed in front of the mirror, with that slender body, thogh some of that slenderness was due to malnutrition since she could see the faint inprint of her ribs on her chest and above her stomache. Her flat chest Naruto noticed with relief. She would apparently be given a few years reprieve before being forced to endure the 'femenine developments'.Yay for small favors.

"One step at a time Naruto. But speaking of food, or lack thereof..." she murmured to herself as her little stomache growled loudly. Her mind immediately focused on the thought of food as she hopped off the sink counter and made to go find the kitchen, completely ignoring the pile of her pajama clothes still piled in the corner.

It was the same apartment she grew up in the first time around, that much was obvious. Down the hall to her right was her bedroom and between the bathroom and her bedroom was a closed door marking the spare bedroom. In her past life she had turned it into a combination of a training room and a storage room for all her scrolls and weapon's she recieved from Tentenover the years they were together (Though Naruto secretly suspected she used gift-giving as an excuse to buy weapon's _she _wanted. Not that Naruto cared. She was just ecstatic spending time with her.) and other gifts from his other friends. It didn't look like it was training room in this version though. For one thing when Naruto really looked around she saw nothing of shinobi quality at all. Given it was only the hallway and the only two rooms left he had to check were the kitchen and the living room which were to the left of the bathroom around the corner. But in his other apartment the walls were covered with posters and as the years went on and he entered the acadamy it became even more obvious from all the school scrolls lying around. The walls were bare in this apartment. The floors were covered with dolls though, even more then she thought there would be for a child here age.

She headed over to the kitchen and gave it a quick once over. There was a table and two chairs and thefridge and stove looked okay, though the stove looked like it hasn't beenused in years. Didn't she have a caretaker or something? Naruto remembered in her oldbody that she had quite a few, cause they kept leaving in disgust. Maybethe caretaker was gettingfoodto drop off? Naruto let out a moan at the thought of having to wait for food when she was hungry _now_. She opened the fridge and to her dismay saw that there was nothing there but a carton of milk and some sort of...thing...that looked like a collection of fungus's.

"Not in a million years." Naruto said to no one in particular as she carefully picked it up and carried it over to the trash can in the corner. She was a little disconcerted at how heavy it seemed to her. Her body must be weaker then she thought, and she already thought it was pretty bad. She dumped the foul thing in the trash and pulled a chair over to the cabinets.Maybe she would have better luck there.

But it was not to be as the only thing in the dust filled shelves was a box cereal. Cereal shaped like little ponies. It would have to do for now, as Naruto got it out and poured herself a bowl she found. She felt so hungry she would even eat those kami forsaken green vegetables at the moment. She smiled hungrily as she retrieved the milk and began to pour. The smile soon turned to a frown as the milk _oozed_ out and collected itself on top of the cereal without pouring between it. Naruto cursed life in general yet again as she threw out the contents, drop kicked the milk in a rage, screamed again as the expired contents fleweverywhere and she had to clean it upand finally after washing the bowl out she tried again. Since breakfast today wasn't going to get much better then this she stood on her chair, since it was adult sized furniture, and began to eat her dry meal.

With the distraction of sustanence satiated for the time being Naruto refocused herself on her crisis. From what she could tell that jutsu that Tsunade instigated and an unknowing Sasuke executed removed his soul and sent it back in time to another reality. She only guessed that because first off she was a little sickly looking girl so that counted out just being sent to another reality. Also, before she hit that light she saw a image of the great Hokage monument and it only had four heads. That must mean something. Naruto's head was rapidly starting to throb. All this time-space continuum crap was starting to fry her little brain. She took a breath and decided to look at things from a different angle.

"Ok, Naruto." She told herself. "Your young again, _really young,_ and you have absolutely no idea how to get back. Not thatyour going totry anyway. Anything's better then that hellhole I just got thrown out of." Her mood instantly darkened. If she was looking into a reflective surface she would have seen the crimson dot's in her pupils grow and become fox-like slits. "Never mind that. Since there isn't any other sign of other people living here, hell there's little more then doll's all over the place and since your all alone it's probably a safe guess to say you got stuck with the fox again. The best course of action at the moment would be to just blend until you figure out your next move. Now, where do you stand?"

Ok, now that shegave herselfa tactical-like scenario her brain was really starting to wake up now. Thank's to her 'past' life she has a store of knowledge and jutsu rivaling a Hokage, which was perfectly natural since that was what she was being groomed for before Sasuke came back and decided if he couldn't be happy no one could. The problem was that since her body was so young and has obviously never trained itself at all, using practically any of her vast store of jutsu would make her body go off like an explosive note. Even if she dedicated herself entirely to training this fact wouldn't change for quite some time. This left her with her non-chakra reliant skills. He was an excellant infiltrator, a trait she earned in the later years of her lastlife when she served Tsunade as one of her special ANBU, so this wouldn't be a complete disaster. The first thing that you were taught about infiltration in ANBU was to know your cover. That shouldn't be to hard right? This was a little girl persona.

Her course of action clear now, she made her way back to the bedroom. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto looked around her sparse bedroom for a moment. Aside from the seemingly ever present stuffed doll's there was little else of interest. She had a bed, the blanket's still strewn over the floor. She'll clean that later. Other then the standard-in-any-household cabinets there really wasn't much to see. She scanned again and her eyes lit up as she made her way over to the far wall, where a calander was hung. Ignoring the agonizing cute puppy pictures on it she scrolled through the months. After going halfway through it she finally hit what she was looking for.

"Okay lets see...my birthday is on the day of the Kyuubi festival...no surprise there... and it say's it would be my...**THIRD BIRTHDAY? **Son of a bitch that makes me now..." She counted back the month's to the current date. "Two and a half! I shouldn't even be moving around this well!" Even with the Kyuubi changing her, she didn't have anywhere near this level of motor control in her past life. No child should.

"Is it because i'm a girl?" Naruto remembered her eyes in the mirror before. Those red dots were new to. She wondered just what else would be different this time around.

After tearing her room apart the only other points of value she could find was confirmation that her name was also Uzumaki Naruto this time around and some scattered clusters ofmoney. Naruto resolved to thank whichever person thought it was a smart move to give a girl a guys name...right after she removed his eyes and replaced them with ones that could tell a wee-wee from a slit. This _would _make life a little easier since she wouldn't have to learn to respond to a different name so she might let the jerk live.Maybe.

She barely had time to group together her meager living funds before a loud knock soundedon the front door of her apartment made her nearly jump out of her skin. She kicked herself for her un-shinobi like behavior as well as the timing of the interruption. Naruto really didn't want to deal with anyone right now so soon, but it looks like she would just have to wing it. She smiled suddenly. So what else is new? As she made her way to the door her slight paranoia, yearned from years of being the taget of her own home's aggression, kicked in and she picked up one of the doll's on the floor, holding it behind her back. Yea, it probably wouldn't do much against some drunk and vengeful villager or whatever the hell she had to deal with at the moment, but she felt more comfortable having at least something in her hands. She opened the door just enough to peak her head through, doll weapon held ready to give the beating of a lifetime just in case her visitor turned hostile.

"Yea, can I help y..." The words stopped coming out of her mouth as it suddenly became as dry as a desert. The doll fell limply out of her hands as she gazed in open mouthed shock at the figure standing in front of her door.

There in all his wrinkled was the third Hokage.

He smiled warmly down on her. "Good morning Naruto-Chan. And how are you feeling today."

Naruto might as well have been a statue for all the movement she was showing. It wasn't until the Third began to frown a little that she realized he probubly wanted a response. "I...uh...erm...uh...fine I guess." She finally managed to squeak out.

"Good, good that's fine. You gave me quite a scare yesterday."

"Really?" Naruto said. Curiosity and a chance to get some information was overriding her initial shock at seeing a man that was dead to her for the last fourty or so years show up at her doorstep.

"Yes. Your injury from the...incidentwas serious and I came to see how you were doing and to take you to the hospital. I'm not intruding am I?" The Third asked.

"Incident?"

"The heavy blow to your head yesterday." The Third responded.

Naruto's eyes bulged. "**BLOW TO MY HEAD! I'VE BEEN WALKING AROUND WITH BRAIN DAMAGE**?" Naruto shriekedas all the reminders of keeping a low unassuming profile promptly fled her head for the one brief moment. Naruto cursedmentally as she saw the Thirds face twist in mild surprise at her outburst. She promptly took steps to salvage what she could of the situation."Why wasn't I taken to the hospital?" She asked. She already knew the awnser of course. Watching the Third as he lowered his head slighty in shame just confirmed it.

"There was a misunderstanding from the chuunin I requested to take you to the hospital.You remember him don't you?" Naruto had no idea who he was talking about but nodded anyway. "Well, hetook you home instead. When I found out about it I came immediately to bring you there to get your wound examined. How about it? We could get something to eat afterwords."

He had her at the word eat. This would be a good chance to see parts of the village without having to fear reprisals. It probably wasn'tmuch different then what she remembered but she didn't want to take any chances out there alone yet. Her treatment in her past life destroying any faith she would have had in it's people.

"OKAY!" She cried, putting up her fake cheerful smile, something she hasn't bothered todo in so long. "Let's go!"

Naruto opened the door and rushed past the Third. She stopped, though, as she heard him clear his throat.

"Naruto-Chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Shouldn't you put on some clothes on first?"

Naruto blinked at that and looked down. She realized to her growing horror that she was buck naked and _flashing the goods to a perverted old man_. The Third chuckled as the little blond let out a scream of embarrassment and rushed back into her apartment. He was still laughing when the door slammed him in the face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Third wasn't smiling twenty minutes later, where the two found themselves walking towards the hospital where Naruto had an appointment waiting. He wasn't happy at all.

In truth he was very concerned for his small charge.

The girl was acting like a completely different person in the short time he's been with her today. She usually would be running down the street's laughing, swinging around whatever doll she got her hand's on at the moment talking her little head off. Today by contrast Naruto was moving with a quiet grace he only saw in trained shinobi. Talented shinobi. She didn't even give the doll's that she treasured so much a glance as they left and she also hasn't said a single word to him since they left her apartment when she would always be chatting his ear off.

Even more noticable was her clothes. Most of the time the Third spent waiting for Naruto was because she was tearing her wardrobe apart. He heard several comments about 'God forsaken pink' and 'fangirl wardrobe' before she finally settled on a dark blue shirt with a hood with green pants. The hood was up and her hair was tucked under it. Simply put she looked like a mushroom. He feared that blow to the head she took yesterday might have made her color blind before he noticed the rest of her clothes lying all over the bedroom floor. Except for what she was wearing, all of it was bright attention getting colors. Naruto always ways trying so hard to just get a second glance. Now it looked like she was avoiding attention.What could have caused such a drastic change? Surely not the injury? He resolved to keep a close eye on her.

_'That someone so young has been burdened with something so great.' _He thought dejectedly. He knew from reports about how isolated and miserable the girl felt. Part of the reason he was doing this personally was that after yesterday's incident he found he couldn't trust any one else completely for something so delicate. Sure the ninja he had occasionally check up on her did their job, but they made no move to assist her during the many times she found herself on the end of undeserved mistreatment. The main problem was the villagers. He had hoped that they would honor the last wish of the Fourth and treat Naruto with respect or at least courtesy. That was not meant to be apparently, as many of the inhabitants of Konoha, villager and shinobi alike, chose to hate her. The shinobi, at least were able to keep their hostile feeling's to themselves for the most part, the profession demanding that one have high tolerance for action's that one despised, especially at the higher ranks. Villagers didn't have such mental training benefiting them and often went out of the way to belittle the poor girl. They were getting even more aggressive lately, as the injury Naruto was getting checked up on was caused by some drunk putting a lead pipe to the side of her head while screaming 'Kyuubi'. It was only a combination of a bad angle in the swing, as well the demon's influence he suspected that kept Naruto from being killed immediately. The Third didn't know how much Naruto heard before she lost conciousness after that first swing, but he intended to find out today if she did as well if she put the pieces together.He hoped that when the time camewhen she learned of her prisoner the grief wouldn't come bubbling up and consume them all.

The pair finally arrived at the hospital and were immediatelylead towards a room where a doctor was waiting, the combination of the Third's busy schedule as well as the desire to get the demon child out of their hair getting them out of a stay in the waiting room. The doctor stepped forward.

"Hello." The man smiled. He looked to be in his late twenty's with long brown hair tied in a top knot and warm brown eyes. He was dressed in a standard doctor's uniform, though that could only be expected since he worked in a hospital. "My name is Dr. Tuta. Am i correct in assuming that your here to inspect an injury you sustained yesterday?" he asked as he looked at Naruto.

"I guess so." She muttered. Naruto didn't have anything against hospital's per-se but she really wanted to get this over withso she could get that lunch the Third promised and get back to the crisis at hand.

"Ok then!" He replied cheerfully and made a move to remove her hood. Naruto suddenly swungher hand out and slapped it away. Tuta stepped back in surprise, rubbing his hand.

"Naruto!" The Third exclaimed from where he had been slightly watching the proceedings. "What are you doing?"

Naruto blinked,rubbed the back of her headsheepishly "Sorry. I guess I was just being rude." She pulled her hood down and bowedslightly to Dr. Tuta. "Can we try again?" She asked.

He smiled. "Of course." And so he continued the examination with no furthur incidents.

The was silence as Dr. Tuta did his thing for several reasons. Dr. Tuta was consumed in his work, as he performed several diagnostic jutsu all over her body and prodded her all over. The Third was troubling over the fact that a two and a half year old with no training just used what looked to be a basic taijutsu nerve chop to disable Dr. Tuta's hand for a split second. Naruto was cursing herself for her behavior in front of the Hokage. Naruto didn't want him becoming suspicious of her or freaking out that the fox was breaking out or controlling her actions. Spending the rest of her life in a padded room or worse was not on her to do list. Finally Tuta stood up straight.

"And that's it. I am happy to say that your head is fine. There's no permanent damage that I could see." Tuta picked up some of the paper's that had Naruto's test results on it. "Hokage-sama? May I see you outside for a moment?"

"Of course." The Third followed the doctor out.

When the had made it to the end of the hall Tuta stopped and turned back to his leader. "We have a what could be a problem sir."

The Third's face became grave. "So her head is in worse condition then you told her?"

"No. There is no damage to her head but there is a problem with it."

"Elaborate." The Third said, face becoming all business.

"Look at this." Tuta handed him a piece of paper with an x-ray version of a head, presumably Naruto's, on it. Normally it would take quite a while to obtain such a detailed diagnostic, But a medic like Tuta is trained to get the information with a jutsu and 'burn' it onto a blank sheet of paper. "This is her brain. While physically it's in perfect condition, notice what I show you now." He performed a quick series of hand seals and all of a sudden there were little streaks of yellow flashing all over it. "These are the electrical impulses that run through every person's brain."

"What are you getting at doctor?" Asked the third.

"What i'm getting at is thereis far to much activity! The human brain takes time to mature and develop. A child usually has a small level of impulse. Naruto however has many times more then even someone twice her age! The level belongs more to an older adult then a child."

The Third frowned. "Will this hurt her?"

"Normally I would say yes. Such rapid development on a relativly new mind should have destroyed it. That's not happening in this case, in fact the brain has adapted itself perfectly to take the strain. The only reason I can think of is the...you know." For the first time in the whole check up Tuta looked uncomfortable.

The Third scratched his beard. He knew who Tuta meant. This was a troublesome development. "What will this result in?"

"She'll get smarter, sir. Rapidly. Beyond that...you know her better then I do. How will she see the world now?"

The Third didn't awnser, merely staring into space. This was not what he needed rigth now. There was already a lot of resentment towards the girl. If certain people found out that the Kyuubi might be engineering this kind of change in the girl...

He suddenly turned towards Tuta. "Thank you doctor. I will be taking the files now. No one is to know of this am I clear?"

Tuta nodded. "Of course. One more thing. She is also showing dangerous signs of lack of nutrition. I know that given the child's history there is chance that this might be deliberate but please try to improve her eating habits. This village has no shortage of food. It pains me to see one so gaunt looking."

Tuta handed the folder with Naruto's information on it over to the Third. He to was concerned with the young girl's health when he saw her condition that morning at her apartment. He looked at the contents of the folder with a combination of apprehension and dread, for it was a sign that there was a big change in the future but for good or bad even he didn't know.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 2 done!

I was originally going to make this longer but since i'm leaving for a two week vacation to florida I didn't think I could finish in time. So, I chose a point where it wouldn't look completely rediculous to stop at. On the positive side though It means I got a bit of chapter three already in my head. I won't really be working on this in Florida but if i am hit with inspiration i'll write it down.

I know it seems a little boring but to tell the truth My initial thoughts were about situation's Naruto would get in while already a little girl. Unlike some otehr authors on fanfiction I couldn't just send Naruto through time and turn her into some kind of god like figure. I wouldn't feel rigth unless I gave Naruto some back ground first. When I get back it will really get going and i'm confident that the Naruto I will make is not like any other's on this site yet.

Speaking of god-like figures, Naruto is not all powerful. She is still a kid and she won't recover completely for quite some time. She does however have over four decades of war experiance to draw on so she has some surprises in store.

Okay time to awnser my reviews...all four of them.

sigh

ZWngDragon- I might make it a NaruTen even though their both girls. It's really to early to decide and a same gender relationship that wasn't NaruSasu (I have nothing against pairings like that but for god sakes their everywhere! Put some detail into it.) would be different.

As for Sakura yes I havn't given much background but it was only the first chapter and I intend to put more detail into it in the form's of flashbacks. I will tell you that there were reasons for such behavior on her part, not all of them under her control. I'm even toying with the thought of having Naruto turn Sakura into a Sasuke hating tomboy as a way to pass the time.

Yes a jounin would say wee-wee cause it's Naruto and she will always have that piece of immaturity in her.

The Phantomhokage- Thank you though if there is anything you wish to see please tell me.

LiquidAsh- I'm glad you liked it. My next few chapters will have more action in them I swear.

kitsune-chaos- Nice to see another Sasuke hater out there. The punk won't make a appearance for quite a while but I do intend to put Itachi in there real soon. I almost pity him.

Thank you all again and please review again. If you do it before saturday I could read it and go over it in my head during the 17 hour drive down to Florida. Thank god for gameboy.


	3. progression

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or its characters. I do own any OC or OC like personalities I made up.

Chapter 3

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They suspect.

They suspect something.

These were the thoughts that were going through Naruto's head as she sat there and waited for the Third and Tuta to come back. And why wouldn't they? She knew for sure that she wasn't acting any way like the previous psyche that occupied this body. He knew little girls, so full of energy and he was no little girl. She passed the time by sorting through her jutsu list into lists of "do" and "do not". It annoyed her now that she really thought of it of how so few of what she knew she could really perform at the moment. There would be no Kage bunshin or rasengan in the near future that was for sure. When she became a ninja, well a ninja again she would have to be very cautious as to what she showed to her co-workers (She didn't really consider them comrades because after the way they turned on her so fast in the other life).

Naruto didn't have any doubts that she would become a ninja for Konoha again. It was ingrained to much into her. Even though the people in her village were complete hypocritical assholes it was still her home. She couldn't care less about most of the people but she found she still cared for the village itself and while that little epithany gave her some satisfaction that she hadn't been reduced to the remorseless monster like level of Orochimaru or Itachi it gave her no great joy. Besides, if she did try to leave the Third would just drag her back and in her weakened state the retrievers might "accidently" kill her. Naruto knew first hand just what blind hatred could make people do. Naruto and Konoha were stuck with each other.

Her mental ramblings were cut short by the Third and the doctor returning. They both smiled at her in a way that she could tell wasn't forced but also confirmed that they suspected something was wrong. Thier eyes weren't hostile in any way but were examining her in the way that only shinobi did. Ah,well so much for blending in unnoticed.

Tuta cleared his throat. "Well Naruto." He began "I am happy to say that there appears to be nothing wrong with you, although you could use more food in your diet." The man wasn't much of a liar, Naruto noticed as the doctor looked her up and down with worry. He obviously thought there was more damage then a few missed meals.

The Third cleared his throat before Naruto had a chance to respond, which was just as well since Naruto didn't really have any idea what she would say _"Thanks for the heads up Doc. It's nice to see that the nine-tailed dmon fox stuck in my stomache that I shouldn't even know about is good for more then decoration."? _No, that wouldn't have gone over well. "Thank you for your assistance, Doctor, but Naruto and I will be taking our leave now. It was an early visit and I am sure Naruto-Chan would appreciate getting that lunch I promised her."

Naruto hopped off the table and gave a slight bow to Tuta. "Thank you for the examination." Without another word she left the room.

"Will she be alright?" Tuta asked as the Third went to follow his young (In his mind) charge out.

The Third stopped for a moment, seemingly lost deep in thought. He finally turned to the Doctor "I don't know. I don't sense _it's _chakra or presence but something did happen to her. It pains me to see one so young suffering so much." He frowned, wrinkles deepening to show the full strain of his long tenure as both ninja and Hokage. "Everytime I visit the girl she always acted so happy and clung to me the whole time. She was never cruel or mean to a soul in this village."

"She is just a young girl." Tuta pointed out.

"Yes she is. One of the kindest I have seen. But when she was alone without anyone supervising her...I would not believe our village's people could be so purposely cruel if I hadn't witnessed it myself." Indeed he had. Frequent crystal ball checks on Naruto told the whole heartbreaking story. She was bullied and teased at every opportunity, rediculed by even adults and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. Patrols around her neighborhood even caught attempts of property destruction on her apartment by grief blind villagers several times. The images he saw when she was alone were even more gutwrenching. She would be hiding in whatever alley or in the woods alone crying her eyes out for what seemed hours on end. It was the same in her apartment. Her desperate attempts to use her dolls as surrogate friends and family did nothing more then point out the fact that she was alone even clearer, causing more breakdowns. Naruto still tried though, he saw that whenever she walked down the street all smiles, desperate to find someone who would care about her.

"She's really been mistreated that badly?" Tuta asked. The Third was known for his unfledging loyalty to Konoha and it's people. For him to even imply such a thought...

"I'm afraid that I may have been to assuming in that everyone would just honor my law and the dying wish of the Fourth."

At that Tuta's eyes widened. "They have been disobeying the law? That is a capital offence!"

"No, except for the individual who assaulted Naruto yesterday none have. They have been going behind her back rediculing and isolating her though. I fear it's only a matter of time before it becomes to much for her and I shudder to think what would happen."

Tuta just nodded as he listened to his leader vent. He could tell that he needed this for quite a while. "It won't come to that will it? Naruto didn't ask for this burden and it is dishonorable and embarressing behavior for a hidden village to act like this."

The Third smiled "It is nice to hear that there is at least one person in Konoha that doesn't see her as a monster." His smile abruptly vanished. "However, if it does appear that this incident has done something to the seal then I would have no choice to..." He trailed of completely. it hurt him so much to see any member of his village hurt or leave the world before thier time, and to purposely dispose of a young girl who commited no crime only because of actions far beyond her control was almost to much for his poor old heart.

Tuta cleared his throat. "Well, I don't think it will come to that. Don't forget that the one who did the sealing was the Fourth. He wouldn't leave anything to chance or make it so a simple blow to the head to destroy all he worked for."

"I wish the rest of the village had your faith. There are many in the council who protest my treatment of her. They say she is the demon and influencing my actions."

"Hokage-Sama thats rediculous"

"Be that as it may. There are also some who use that as an excuse to undermine my credential and are pushing for thier own power gain. This is the last thing this village needs after losing so many of our best and brightest that night. We can't afford to segment ourselves."

Tuta's eyes went wide. "I had no idea it was so bad..." Tuta was a career medic-nin ever since he put on his head band for the first time. As such he didn't get out of the hospital much so things like politics passed him over a bit,

"The leaf will endure. But as long as I associate with Naruto this is something I will have to personally endure. " The Third wondered just what was happening to his home. People were becoming petty and weak-minded and he felt he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"Excuse me."

Both Doctor and Hokage jumped at the sound of the small voice. They turned to see Naruto standing at the door. The Third kicked himself mentally for not picking up the presence of the girl. He must be slipping at his age because there was no way a child with no trainingcould conceal herself from him...right?

But even more important- what did she hear? He was going on about how Naruto would break under this mental strain and here it was that he might have unwittingly pushed her over the edge.

Naruto looked up at the Third, eyes empty. "You didn't follow me out." Was the lone comment.

The Third smiled down warmly at his charge. "Please excuse me Naruto-Chan! I was getting some last bits of advice from the good doctor." That was true enough, but the Third vowed to be much more careful in the future in discussing this sort of subject around Naruto. The Third said goodbye to Tuta and left with Naruto, leaving a very concerned medic-nin in thier wake.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lunch found the pair settled in the warm stall of the Ichiraku ramen stand (Naruto got to choose the place and his love of ramen was just about the only thing that survived his life intact). The old man running it practically fell over in shock at the sight of the Hokage himself walking in and was quick to get the pair settled and served. The first minutes passed in silence as the Third finished his bowl and watched with shock as the little two-year old practically inhaled four extra large helpings of miso-ramen. The propreitor laughed at the sight, mentioning how he had a daughter just a little older and how he wished she loved his ramen like Naruto did.The Thirdsmiled at the sight of Naruto combing each bowl down to the last noodle, finally sighing in satisfaction when he finished. Then he remembered Naruto's phyisque when he stopped to collect her that morning. This might have been the first real meal she got in who knows how long. He would have to try to fix that. But first he would have to see how she was doing mentally.

A few moments passed as thier bowls were taken before the third broke the silence. "I didn't know you loved ramen so much. Whenever we went out before you would just choose the closest place to where you lived."

"It's cheap and I don't get much money."

"Naruto, your orphan's fund gives you plenty of money."

"There's no money in my apartment." Naruto had yet to turn and look at the Third during this whole conversation. Could one blow to the head cause that much damage?

"Well I will look into it and make sure you get what you are supposed to."

"...thank you Hokage-Sama." With that Naruto hopped off the stool and went to leave.

The Third turned after her. He was not about to let her go so easily. "Naruto wait! I would like to talk to you for a moment is that alright?"

"You already spent all morning with me. Besides, i'm tired. I am going home." Naruto stopped at the entrance to the ramen stand. "One more thing. I don't want you visiting me anymore."

Now the Third was rocked back on his heels. "Naruto what are you saying? You enjoy it so much when I visit you."

"You said that associating with me is bad for your reputation. I don't want to cause you so much trouble."

_'So she did hear me.'_ The Third thought sadly. "It's nothing Naruto. Don't let it bother you so much."

"If you say so. But I still don't want you to visit anymore, and while your at it just send the money to me now."

"Naruto, why are you acting like this? I barely recognize you today."

The little blond was silent for a full ten seconds. The Third was about to ask again when Naruto finally responded. "Yesterday was a real eye-opener for me. I want some time to myself to think things over." With that final comment Naruto left.

_'I failed you." _The Third thought to his dead predecessor. _'I thought that the people of this village would learn to accept her but now it seems that it will not come to be. I'll still look over her to the best of my abilities but I hope you will forgive me for the damage that has been done.' _The Third left to return to his duties, as well as to look in to rearranging Naruto's financial aid process's he could do at least that much.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto felt bad for leaving the old man like that but it had to be done. Truth be told she didn't know a damn thing about what happened to this body before today, besides the fact that it's a different gender then she used to as well as being in desperate need of real food. It did, however, give Naruto an excellent excuse to get the Third out of her hair, provivding he respected her request. Naruto didn't hate him or anything even after what he said about having to kill her if she was corrupted he was the Hokage and making such choices was part of his job.it wasn't like he wanted to do it. Naruto respected his commitment but didn't want him impeding her growth. This time around she planned on using every moment of her life in preparation for whatever comes her way. Akatsuki in particular was at the top of her mind.

In her last life the demon collecting syndicate was practically a natural disaster. Naruto's friends were strong, but in the end were no match for the upper echelons of Akatsuki. The best they could do was fend off the weaker members. Naruto often had to face them alone, especially in the later years when that waste of life Uchiha was shadow controlling the council and doing their damn best to finish her off. But this time would be different because Naruto had something going for her this time. This time Naruto had extensive knowledge of each of thier techniques, styles and personalities. Better yet since they didn't know that she knew Naruto would have surprise on her side. Naruto didn't need the Third walking in on her while she was honing her devestating counter stradigies and wondering just where she learned what she did. Granted the roster could be slightly different this time around but Naruto was certain the higher leadership wasn't, and that gave her an edge.

A close second was that damn snake Orochimaru. Naruto wasn't actually worried about him that much. In the years after the death of the mad sannin and his mentor/father Jiriya Naruto did extensive research on seals. In fact he did extensive research on pretty much any book she could find since that was the period in which all her friends were being killed by a madman wearing the leaf headband and Naruto was pretty much all alone. She spent most of her time at Tsunade's estate which was Naruto's only real safe haven in her own village. It was in Tsunade's family's library that Naruto dug into everything she could in a desperate attempt to hide from the grief and the hate that was choking her from all sides. It was there that Naruto managed to come up with a trick that she hoped to put Orochimaru out of condition. It was worthless then but with the help of someone else in the village Naruto had high hopes it would work now.

The thought of roasting those people alive over an open flame cheered Naruto up greatly as she arrived at her apartment. The combination of the daily emotional rollar coaster as well as eating enough hot ramen to choke someone twice her age had exhausted her. Naruto understood now why Orochimaru gave his future vessel's time to mature before taking them over. On her way to the refuge that was her lumpy bed she stopped at the door to what used to be her training room in her old life. Curiosity getting the better of her she walked in. One last surprise for the day she thought.

Naruto walked in and raised her eyebrow slightly. Littered all over the room were more dolls. Lots of them. The other Naruto was clearly more into them then she thought. She walked in furthur and saw in the corner one of those little girl tea sets that girls her age play in. Three of the chairs were occupied but the fourth wasn't,obviously used by the other Naruto. on closer inspection the floor under that chair was scratched up. It was obviously used often and considering the treatment of demon vessel's in general it wasn't hard to figure out why. _'She fell in on herself' _Naruto realized. The Third mentioned something about the other Naruto being lively but She figured that was just an act in front of him. Naruto suspected that in reality she pulled a Hinata and hid in here all day. It was probubly even worse then Hinata because she didn't have a massive clan and a feared family reputation to protect her. She walked over to the table and picked up some papers on it. They were drawings. A few of them were of Naruto and the Third but most of them were of Naruto alone. She could see the crudely drawn pictures were crying in most of them. Since the other Naruto most likely couldn't read this was probubly her only way to express her pain.

Naruto looked around the sanctuary of a girl wronged so much. For the first time since her friends died she felt real emotion. That emotion was rage. How dare the fourth go to the afterlife a hero and leave a _child _to muck in the aftermath of his actions. Naruto used to admire him so much but now she hated the guy. Damn the villagers for being such cowards, letting their petty feelings ruin a child's life just to make themselves feel better. It was almost to much but naruto wouldn't break and become what they wanted her to be. No, she would survive this time, beat the bad guys and make things better for her friends. Even though they don't know her and likely never would she would be a strong ninja, stronger then she was before and keep an eye out for them, if just for the memory of her comrades long gone.Naruto would survive for the little girl who loved dolls.

But first she would get some sleep. Her feet were killing her.

As Naruto finally turned in to rest she spotted her clock. It was barely past noon and she was exhausted already! Naruto had her work cut out for her. She would have to improve fast.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the next year and a half that past she did indeed improve fast. Surprisingly, Naruto didn't jump straight into training. She spent the first few weeks after that day getting the lay of the village. It was the same for the most part. Konoha was still recovering from the Kyuubi attack even after two and a half years and the outer walls had plenty of openings that weren't watched that she could take advantage of later. Morning's and afternoon's were spent catalouging their locations while night's were spent going through every beginner level chakra exercise she knew, and there were a lot. Naruto soon developed her sense of detection enough that she could detect her chuunin watchers. It was soon obvious that they weren't exactly the elite of the chuunin level, which was another useful fact she could take advantage of.

After a month passed Naruto moved on to the more advanced regimine. She found out that if she snuck out of her apartment early enough the chuunin would just think that she was staying home all day. Maybe they just didn't care but either way Naruto was alone and after sneaking out of the village through the holes she located in the weeks before she had the atmosphere Naruto wanted for training.

It was funny how things changed. Before Naruto would have done anything to be in the company of someone. Now she couldn't care less. When was the last time she got to be alone like this? Naruto couldn't remember the last day she got a full nights sleep she was always being sent off again after a few measly hours of rest with her complaints being met by derision and scorn. Now...she was still working 15 hour days but they were _her _choice, not some slimy councilman's and that made all the difference. She was happier going about the forest's of Konoha then she was fighting for it. Since her old techniques were mostly obsolete until she grew up more she commited all of her formidible knowledge into an alternate style and after a little inspiration from the other Naruto she settled on something she knew would be invaluable in the future, regardless of how it turned out.

So it was that the morning a year and a half later greeted a whole new Naruto. She was dressed in a dark blue jacket with black pants with shuriken pouch's sewn into the legging. Under the jacket was a skin-tight fishnet shirt. She cut her hair short, shorter then it was before when she was a boy this age. She pulled up her jacket's hood over the full head mask she wore. Only her eyes were visible.

Naruto skipped breakfast. She overate last nightand she had a long history of bad milk in the morning related incidents. She double checked her gear and made for the door. There would be no training today. Today was the day she made a try for genin. After a year and a half of solitude Konoha would finally be reminded of her existence. Naruto wasn't interested in glory anymore but she knew she would turn heads today. One thought lorded over all others as she walked out the door and faced her destiny for the second time.

_'Showtime.'_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well there it is chapter 3. I know I promised combat this chapter but things got strung out. I'm not good at those 10,000+ chapters other writers can do but I hope doing 5000 or so will let me get it out on a more regular basis.

I swear upon my hatred of Sasuke that there will be more interesting content next chapter. I just can't bring myself to progress without at least an attempt at good plot. Next chapter you will see a taste of Naruto's new style.

As always please review I beg of you all.


End file.
